John XXI

John XXI

(who should really have been counted XX), Pope (whose true name was Petrus Juliani, cardinal bishop of Tusculum, a native of Lisbon), was elected Sept. 13, 1276. He was a man of learning and honest intentions, but weak, and unable to carry out any honest designs. Whether he is identical with Petrus Hispanus, the writer of many medical and philosophical works, is not certain. His efforts to unite the European powers for a crusade were unsuccessful. It is said that he found his death May 16, 1277, at Viterbo, by the falling of a ceiling. See Herzog, Real- Encyklop. 6, 758.